Chase King Honored as Special Teams Player of the Year at Banquet

Feb 25, 2013

Five other Eagles honored with team awards given to players
from the 2012 FCS semifinalists

Finally healthy after a nagging knee injury, senior
Chase King received his just rewards for playing
all 14 games for the 2012 Eastern Washington University football
team. As a result of his 10 tackles – many on kick coverage
units – King was selected as Special Teams Player of the Year
Sunday (Feb. 24) at the annual EWU Football Awards Banquet.

Five other Eagles were given team accolades, including Defensive
Player of the Year Ronnie Hamlin, Offensive Player
of the Year Brandon Kaufman, Scout Team Defensive
Player of the Year Miquiyah Zamora and Scout Team
Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp.

Receiving the Pat Roberts Memorial Award for athletic and
academic achievement was Grant Williams.
Recognized as the recipient of the Tom Oswald Memorial Award for
following Oswald’s creed of “doing the right thing for
youth” was former Eagle and current EWU Police Department
officer Jay Day.

Also recognized at the banquet were Eastern’s 16 seniors,
including the team’s four co-captains – linebacker
Zach Johnson, defensive end Paul
Ena, wide receiver Nicholas Edwards and
offensive tackle Will Post. All-America awards won
by six players were also presented, as well as three players
honored as Freshmen All-Americans. A trio of players were honored
for receiving regional and national academic awards, including
Academic All-American Jeff Minnerly out of
Spokane’s Ferris High School.

The banquet helped conclude a 2012 season which saw the Eagles
finish ranked fourth in the final Sports Network NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision Top-25 poll. Eastern finished the 2012
season 11-3 won a share of the school’s sixth Big Sky
Conference championship. It was the fourth 10+ win in school
history (joining the 2010, 1997 and 1967 squads), as
Eastern’s season ended with a 45-42 loss to Sam Houston State
in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs.

King, a 2008 graduate of Decatur High School in Federal Way,
Wash., played in just 10 career games prior to his senior season
because of a knee injury. He played in all 14 games in 2012, and
earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference honors as a special
teams player. A running back for the Eagles before his injury, he
also played linebacker and had 1 1/2 sacks, three total tackles for
loss and a forced fumble.

Hamlin and Kaufman both earned All-America honors for the Eagles
after sensational 2012 seasons as juniors. Hamlin had 136 tackles
to rank fifth in school history, and his average of 9.71 per game
ranked 31st in FCS and fourth in the Big Sky. He is from Lacey,
Wash., and is a 2009 graduate from Timberline High School.

Kaufman broke the FCS record for single season receiving yards
with 1,850, and finished the year with 93 receptions and 16
touchdowns. The Denver, Colo., native is now pursuing professional
opportunities, and was not at the banquet. Instead, he was at the
National Football League Combine in Indianapolis, Ind., where he
had the 19th-best overall grade out of 38 wide receivers.

Kupp and Zamora, a pair of 2012 high school graduates, helped
the Columbia Basin Big Nine League (CBBN) sweep the scout team
awards. Kupp was an All-State wide receiver at Davis High School in
Yakima, Wash., and Zamora was an All-State defensive back at
Chiawana High School in Pasco, Wash.

Williams, a 2008 graduate of Rogers High School in Puyallup,
Wash., started just 10 games in his Eastern career, but was a
versatile player at all three linebacker positions and on special
teams. He played in 50 career games – just one behind the
school-record set by teammates Tyler Washburn and
Ena, and former teammate Matt Martin. Williams closed his career
with 156 tackles, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Also at the banquet, the team, Kaufman and head coach
Beau Baldwin were honored by Ed Sharman from the
Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association for
winning that association’s awards. In the 64-year existence
of the awards, EWU has won the Team of the Year award just three
times, including two of the last three years (includes EWU’s
2010 National Championship team). Kaufman was just the fifth
Eastern athlete to win Amateur Athlete of the Year honors, but he
was the third-straight (Bo Levi Mitchell in 2011 and J.C. Sherritt
in 2010). Baldwin has now won Coach of the Year honors twice,
joining four other former Eagle coaches to win the award once (Ray
Giacoletti in 2004, Dick Zornes in 1992, Curt Byrnes in 1997 and
Dave Holmes in 1967).

AWARDS WON BY EWU IN 2012

TeamInland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters
(SWABS) Team of the Year

Head Coach - Beau BaldwinInland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters
(SWABS) Coach of the Year
Big Sky Conference co-Coach of the Year – Coaches
Finalist for Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year) - The
Sports Network